What You Can Learn From Protecting A River

A river is as important to the land as a vein is to an organ. This is something that I had heard before, but my summer internship made me actually understand how vital rivers really are. Greenville has many little streams that are all a part of the greater Reedy River Watershed. In this way, the Reedy River is like a major artery that provides Greenville with life, supporting plant and animal biodiversity and draining rainwater. Through my partnership with the Friends of the Reedy River, I have learned just how important taking care of our river is, and how easy it can be for you to make a difference.

I became interested in Friends of the Reedy River because of the promise of a variety of activities and responsibilities, ranging from spreading awareness to hands-on water monitoring. Early on in my internship, I began researching the organization and its partners such as SC Rivers Forever, the Reedy River Water Quality Group, and South Carolina Environmental Law Project. I learned in future meetings with these organizations that they have a lot of overlap in responsibilities and members, with employees occasionally switching from one to the other. One of the major topics at hand during these meetings was the Greenville County Council’s proposal for wider riparian buffers. This surprised many of the board members of Friends of the Reedy River, so I was asked by my supervisor to research the County Council members’ previous policy votings so that they could make sense of their beliefs. This was a deeper delve into policy than I expected to make during this internship, but it helped me see how politics played a role in development ordinances which directly affect the environment.

Later in June, my supervisor took me on a water monitoring expedition, visiting several points along the Reedy River. Alongside my fellow intern Reece Wilson, I learned how to test river water for dissolved oxygen, E. coli, pH, and turbidity levels. We sat out on the river bank baking in the sun, filling vials with different chemicals and waiting for them to change color. It was awesome. This water monitoring is done through SC Adopt a Stream, which is always accepting new volunteers. This was my favorite experience with Friends of the Reedy River working out in the field.

I later was asked to redesign the newsletter that Friends of the Reedy River sends out to subscribers, highlighting the main findings of their monthly water quality monitoring. Being a part of each step of this process, both gathering information and sharing it, was very interesting. I found that spreading awareness and educating others on our river’s water quality was not as hard as it seemed, and provided real impacts on the environment. In fact, we found that a pollutant was being leaked into the water during our monitoring, and were able to report it to the city that very minute.

If you were to ask me what I learned this summer, I would probably take a long time to answer, listing out my experiences with designing signs, conducting research, and discussing policies at board meetings. If you were to ask me what I really took away from this summer however, I would tell you the importance of protecting our rivers. This is of course Friends of the Reedy River’s mission, yet you don’t have to be a part of an organization to make it yours too. Helping with a river cleanup, volunteering for water quality monitoring, or even just advocating for rivers to your local council members are all beneficial activities. In the future I may have a different job and live in a different place, yet I will always keep this sense of environmental activism with me. Waterways may provide us with life, yet they can only continue to do so if we take care of them.

About the Author: Stefan Yazijian is from Greenville, South Carolina and is a Sustainability major graduating in 2027. During this summer, Stefan is working with Friends of the Reedy River as a Watershed Conservation Development Fellow. Stefan was drawn to work with Friends of the Reedy River because of his love for his hometown’s green spaces and waterways. In his free time, Stefan enjoys playing guitar, reading, and going on outdoor adventures.